Convert TiVo box into Win XP Media Center

[rjcTivo04]

Just as a thought. Would it be possible to convert a Phillips DSR7040 DirecTivo box into a Windows XP Media Center?

The reason I ask is I have been doing some extensive reading on additional media playing options such as playing MP3s, displaying photos and such and from what I understand only the actual TiVo brand series 2 boxes support the Home Media Option, which by the way I think is rediculous you have to pay for. Why would I have to pay to share files within my network? And hacking the Linux OS just seems like a real pain in the ass.

[Francesco]

Huh?

[Lost Dog]

Originally posted by rjcTivo04
Just as a thought. Would it be possible to convert a Phillips DSR7040 DirecTivo box into a Windows XP Media Center?


While you are at it, could you convert my fridge to also be a stove? I think it would save a lot of time if I could just cook things in there.

[yotta]

No, the CPUs are not compatible.

[Zirak]

Originally posted by Lost Dog
While you are at it, could you convert my fridge to also be a stove? I think it would save a lot of time if I could just cook things in there.

Although you said stove, you seem to be implying oven. Ok, no problem, here you go! (http://polara.whirlpool.com/)


Of course if you really meant stove, you would have to check here. (http://www.pricescan.com/home/photos/images/714283.JPG) I'll even throw in the kitchen sink.

[rjcTivo04]

I didn't think my question was unreasonable. After all, it's just a box with a motherboard, cpu and hard drive. Why not?

Thanks yotta. Do you mean the CPU is not compatible with Windows?

And thank you as well Zirak.

[Piggers]

Before you ask a question like that you might want to see what the hardware requirements are for running windows media center edition. They limit there encoders to specific cards. You just cannot stick any card and expect the media center to work properly even on a pc scale. That is why microsoft only use HP for there media center boxes. You cannot buy the media center hardware or OS serperately.

Just my .02.

[rjcTivo04]

Is everyone in this community moody or something?

Dell and a number of other vendors already are selling media center PCs. Eventually, M$ will sell the OS seperately. It's only a matter of time. And buying the Media Center hardware seperately is coming at the end of 04.

I don't see why any box couldn't run Win XP MC. It's just XP with a few more features and a special video card. If i had the OS and bought a few small pieces of hardware I could turn my P3 into a Media Center.

[Cletus]

I'll tell you how, but only if you help me convert my Accord into a lawnmower. :)

[Piggers]

Originally posted by Cletus
I'll tell you how, but only if you help me convert my Accord into a lawnmower. :)

I bet monster garage could do it. LOL!

[Lost Dog]

Originally posted by Zirak
Although you said stove, you seem to be implying oven. Ok, no problem, here you go! (http://polara.whirlpool.com/)



I feel like I'm living in Cosmopolis! City of the Future!

[Lost Dog]

Originally posted by rjcTivo04
Is everyone in this community moody or something?

Yes.
The sad truth is with the advent of TiVo many of us have long since lost the need to leave the house thereby losing all sense of social skills.

Originally posted by rjcTivo04
I don't see why any box couldn't run Win XP MC. It's just XP with a few more features and a special video card. If i had the OS and bought a few small pieces of hardware I could turn my P3 into a Media Center.

A chip is not a chip is not a chip.

Software interacts with specific hardware (let's not get in to semantics about emulators here). That is why you can't go out and buy Mac OSX and run it on your Wintel box.

Very true, you can buy a few pieces of hardware and turn your P3 into a media center. The key part is the few pieces of hardware you purchase are designed to interact with the software (chicken before the egg... the software may be designed to interact with the hardware).

If you try to load XP on your TiVo, it will just say "huh?" and be even more antisocial than everyone here.

[rjcTivo04]

Thank you for the civilized, social response this time around Lost Dog.

So it is possible then to make a Media Center box without having to buy a prebuilt machine right? Looking at the specs of one of those prebuilt machines, take one of the Dells for instance it looks just like your run of the mill, high-end machine with a sweet video card, a remote and a Infrared device. Maybe I'm wrong.

Software interacts with specific hardware (let's not get in to semantics about emulators here). That is why you can't go out and buy Mac OSX and run it on your Wintel box.

I can buy that answer. So a Tivo box is specifically designed for Linux then right? That kind of sucks, oh well. Just for argument sake, couldn't I turn a Windows 2000 machine into a Linux box or for that matter create a seperate partition for booting into a Linux system without any hardware changes?

[Piggers]

Originally posted by rjcTivo04




Just for argument sake, couldn't I turn a Windows 2000 machine into a Linux box or for that matter create a seperate partition for booting into a Linux system without any hardware changes?

Yes you can but why would you want to. Not really any benefit to doing that. Just build a another machine and put linux on it. It does not have to be a high end machine to run linux.

I think you need to try another forum at this point or go to general topic to find your answers.

[Robert S]

You can certainly build a TiVo-like device using commodity PC parts and Linux. The two most popular programs for the front-end for this are MythTV and FreeVo. You would need to check whether that supports exactly the same hardware as your WinNT Media PC or not (PC hardware manufacturers have a habit of only releasing Windows drivers for their components, so you need to check that the capture card etc have good Linux drivers). Dual booting Windows and Linux isn't a problem. There are plenty of people who find TiVo a bit too limiting who have built their own like this.

However a TiVo is not a suitable base for such a project. Although it runs Linux, it's not a PC. You'll notice it doesn't have a keyboard. Or a mouse. Or a VGA card. Or the same type of CPU as a PC. Or very much RAM. And you can't add any of those things to it. TiVoes are 'embedded' devices - they build on commodity hardware and software to create a custom solution to a very tightly defined problem and end up looking and working nothing like a PC, even if that's what they derive from.

[TDiGuy]

Originally posted by Lost Dog
While you are at it, could you convert my fridge to also be a stove? I think it would save a lot of time if I could just cook things in there.

As I recall there is a stove that will cool the food during the day and automatically turn on to cook the food to have it ready for you when you get home. :D

[rjcTivo04]

Thanks everyone.

[Piggers]

Our pleasure I am sure!

[stevel]

A comment - at present, you cannot obtain Windows XP Media Center Edition without buying a box configured with it - Microsoft doesn't sell it separately.

The TiVo hardware is very different from what any PC-type operating system would expect, even ignoring the use of an unsupported CPU.

[bobnick]

Hmmm, what's the minimum processor speed that's needed for Windows MCE? And what's the speed of the processor in S1 Tivo's?

[ourdoc]

Originally posted by stevel
A comment - at present, you cannot obtain Windows XP Media Center Edition without buying a box configured with it - Microsoft doesn't sell it separately.

The TiVo hardware is very different from what any PC-type operating system would expect, even ignoring the use of an unsupported CPU.

Although you can't buy Windows XP Media Center Edition right now, it is far from unobtainable. It's all over the net...not that it interests me at all..

[Milhouse]

Originally posted by rjcTivo04
Just as a thought. Would it be possible to convert a Phillips DSR7040 DirecTivo box into a Windows XP Media Center?

The reason I ask is I have been doing some extensive reading on additional media playing options such as playing MP3s, displaying photos and such and from what I understand only the actual TiVo brand series 2 boxes support the Home Media Option, which by the way I think is rediculous you have to pay for. Why would I have to pay to share files within my network? And hacking the Linux OS just seems like a real pain in the ass.

This is a wind up, surely? :)

If you think "hacking the Linux OS" is a "real pain in the ass", just go right ahead and try installing Windows MCE on a TiVo (you might want to try something simpler to cut your teeth on, might I suggest OpenVMS, OS/400 or if you're feeling brave Plan9). Let me know how you get on. I would, however, recommend you do some "extensive reading" on computer architecture and software engineering beforehand - it will save you a lot of time/effort/pain.

:rolleyes:

[Robert S]

bobnick: The Series 1 TiVoes have 42MHz PowerPC processors. Oh, and 16Mb (yes, megabytes) of RAM.

[cachecard_user]

what processor is powering the mars rover?

The rovers use a RAD6000 computer produced by BAE systems. This processor is nearly identical in architecture to an old PowerPC processor used in early Macintosh computers. By today's standards, these processors are slow. They run at 20 megahertz, about 1/100th the speed of a typical desktop computer today. They have 128 kilobytes (KB) of RAM, 256 KB of flash memory and some ROM to hold the boot code and operating system. There are no disk drives.
Although they are slow and incredibly expensive ($200K to $300K per computer), they have two big advantages:
They are radiation-hardened so they are immune to the cosmic radiation falling on Mars.
They run the ultra-reliable VxWorks real-time operating system from Wind River Systems.
This computer makes the rover that much more reliable than a typical desktop computer because it is never crashing or corrupting data

[Milhouse]

This computer makes the rover that much more reliable than a typical desktop computer because it is never crashing ...


Shame they never had one in Beagle II - one crash and it was history! :)

[bobnick]

Perhaps they should have put a slightly better processor in the rovers then :)

[Robert S]

Actually the original Macs used Motorola 68000 chips. The current Macintosh architecture is PowerPC (although the actual CPU chips probably have very little in common with the chips in the rovers - those would be derived from designs that are many years old).

A modern PowerPC chip like the G5 would be a disaster on a space mission - all those tiny transistors make it very sensitive to high-energy particles like cosmic rays.

And before someone asks, no, you can't install Windows XP Media Centre on Spirir...

[adelimon]

Even if the hardware was up to the specs required by MCE, it still wouldn't work. The Tivo processor is a MIPS. This is a completely different architecture than the Intel processors and that is the only one Windows can run on.

You can run Linux on an Intel processor because Linux can be compiled for (just about) any architecture you like. Hence I can run the same version of the Linux kernel on my two Intel-based PCs and on the Tivo as wlel.

[cachecard_user]

technically Windows is not archecture specific, remember Win NT running on Alpha chips?

[Nihilator]

Originally posted by Robert S
bobnick: The Series 1 TiVoes have 42MHz PowerPC processors. Oh, and 16Mb (yes, megabytes) of RAM.
Actually, the log file from the last time I rebooted says that my processor is 54MHz:

Jan 1 00:00:15 (none) kernel: Memory configured for 16MB
Jan 1 00:00:15 (none) kernel: CPU clock speed: 54MHz
Jan 1 00:00:15 (none) kernel: ^MTeleworld Customer Device Starting Up!


--Chris

[SteveWinNJ]

MCE is being run on modded xboxes...but thats a different story.;)

[mrbubbles]

MCE on modded xboxes? Got a link?

I have Xbox Media Player and Center on my modded xbox but MCE would be cool to try. I know MS has their own media player too but it is not called MCE AFAIK.

[mcglothi]

You might want to check out the AVS forum's HTPC area, you might get some ideas that are more *feasable*

www avsforum com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=11

There are alot of other options out there other than MCE

-Tim

[SteveWinNJ]

Originally posted by mrbubbles
MCE on modded xboxes? Got a link?

I have Xbox Media Player and Center on my modded xbox but MCE would be cool to try. I know MS has their own media player too but it is not called MCE AFAIK.

I may be mistaken. xbox media center is what they are running. That's what I get for reading stuff at 3AM! Sorry for any confusion! (xbox-scene.com does have some cool stuff though...how's xbox media center working for you?)

[pilott]

Originally posted by Nihilator
Actually, the log file from the last time I rebooted says that my processor is 54MHz:

Jan 1 00:00:15 (none) kernel: Memory configured for 16MB
Jan 1 00:00:15 (none) kernel: CPU clock speed: 54MHz
Jan 1 00:00:15 (none) kernel: ^MTeleworld Customer Device Starting Up!


--Chris

are you overclocking your tivo? :D

[bobnick]

I have something similar on my S1!

[pokegol]

Stick with your TiVo software.

Here's an article from our local paper. I bust out laughing after I read the first 3 paragraphs.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/worktech/cst-fin-andy03.html

This is why we have technology: I recorded the Super Bowl on a PC running Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004, and watched something else, intending to just zip to the good parts of the game, such as the final few plays, the commercials or a brief appearance of frontal female nudity.

Golly if that plan didn't work out perfectly. When I heard about Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction," I smugly picked up the remote, woke my Media Center from sleep ... and discovered that Windows XP had frozen up sometime during the first quarter of the game, requiring a restart.

This isn't emblematic of the Media Center experience, but I'm going to mention it just out of spite. It stung. I've never had a computer that failed to deliver images of naked women before..

Edit: Fixed quote

[mrbubbles]

Originally posted by SteveWinNJ
I may be mistaken. xbox media center is what they are running. That's what I get for reading stuff at 3AM! Sorry for any confusion! (xbox-scene.com does have some cool stuff though...how's xbox media center working for you?)

XBOX media center is awesome. I have all my content on my linux server and xbox media center streams it via regular Windows (SMB) networking. Music, pictures, video, etc. Great interface (skins also). IMDB and CDDB info lookup. Audio via optical and video via component cables. I use my universal remote to control it. It is everything I could ask for plus it plays xbox games.

[Gultig]

54 Mhz is what all the S1 tivos are running. Not all have 16MB though. The DirecTiVos have 32MB.

gultig

[SteveWinNJ]

Originally posted by mrbubbles
XBOX media center is awesome. I have all my content on my linux server and xbox media center streams it via regular Windows (SMB) networking. Music, pictures, video, etc. Great interface (skins also). IMDB and CDDB info lookup. Audio via optical and video via component cables. I use my universal remote to control it. It is everything I could ask for plus it plays xbox games.

Cool. I'm in the process of figuring out what direction to go, but the xbox media center sounds like a great thin-client solution. I'm a PVR/DVR nut with my UltimateTV units, ReplayTV unit, Dell Media Center 2004 pc, and HD-Tivo on order. I also now have an extra 1.8mhz PC to play with. Sounds like I can use the old pc to serve the xbox and my replaytv unit. I've got some reading to do. I have to figure out if I should dump the Media Center 2004 while it's still fairly new and go the xbox media center root. What other forums would recommend for the xbox mod. Thanks again!:D

[mrbubbles]

Originally posted by SteveWinNJ
Cool. I'm in the process of figuring out what direction to go, but the xbox media center sounds like a great thin-client solution. I'm a PVR/DVR nut with my UltimateTV units, ReplayTV unit, Dell Media Center 2004 pc, and HD-Tivo on order. I also now have an extra 1.8mhz PC to play with. Sounds like I can use the old pc to serve the xbox and my replaytv unit. I've got some reading to do. I have to figure out if I should dump the Media Center 2004 while it's still fairly new and go the xbox media center root. What other forums would recommend for the xbox mod. Thanks again!:D

Steve - I will send you a PM to avoid further derailment of this thread.

[dsheli]

Great!!!! Blue Screen of Death on every TV..

[ehgreen]

Lets consider different wording for the original question, perhaps something like "what is the BEST HW CPU for a MultiMedia computer?"


That leads to another thought, "what might be the best Development Platform and the best RunTime Platform for a MultiMedia Application Environment?" The "embedded systems" sphere of computing usually deals with different platforms for development and execution.

In the case of TiVo, they changed execution environment from the PowerPC to the MIPS. Does anyone know what they used as a Development Platform for each Series?

Likely Series 1 used either a big MAC or an IBM RISC System 6000. Both would have necessary hw and sw tools for compiling and testing much of the application. Don't know the MIPS world, but imagine there are similar "bigger systems" to serve as the host system for development.
May even have been the same "host"

What did TiVo use as a Development Platform for each Series?

[ccooperev]

I think TIVO's are rather elegant in their design because they do so much on so little processing power and low chip count. It means you only have to drop $250 on the device (+ subscription for services) versus easily $1400-$3500 for a Media Center PC to do the same thing.

As for TIVO's architecture, here is a rather interesting overview (http://bmrc.berkeley.edu/bibs/instance?prog=1&group=21&inst=627 ) given by a TIVO executive in 2001 to a UC Berkeley engineering school class.

[amgqmp1]

Originally posted by cachecard_user
technically Windows is not archecture specific, remember Win NT running on Alpha chips?

Yes, it is. The version of NT that runs on DEC Alpha's was specifically designed/compiled for use on Alpha's.

TiVo's run PPC chips and MIPS chips (these are different!). There is no version of any Windows OS that runs on these chipsets. Period.

[amgqmp1]

Originally posted by ehgreen
Likely Series 1 used either a big MAC or an IBM RISC System 6000. Both would have necessary hw and sw tools for compiling and testing much of the application. Don't know the MIPS world, but imagine there are similar "bigger systems" to serve as the host system for development.
May even have been the same "host"

What did TiVo use as a Development Platform for each Series?

Likely SGI boxes...

[pokegol]

WinNT was designed to run on x86, MIPS, PPC, and Alpha. Support for MIPS and PPC were dropped in Win2000. Alpha was dropped after that.

So technically, WinNT 4.0 was the last OS revision that could run on MIPS and PPC. Don't know if it would work with the TiVo processors though.

[teeveeboy]

Xbox Media Center is awesome! I used it as a streaming media client for a while, using SMB/Relax to stream from my PC. Then one day I put a 300GB HD in the XBOX, and now I simply use the *XBOX* as my media server with all content stored directly on the Xbox....no streaming. Much simpler IMO.

I played around with MyHTPC and others, trying to set up an HTPC, but I don't have the time or patience. Just getting the remote to work right using Girder is a real pain. With XBMC, it is all built in to a $150 box!

XBMC does all HiDef formats, optical DD out, plays DVDs, ISOs from DVDs, and almost any other video, audio, picture format you can think of. Shoutcast internet radio and so on.
I have also tried many of the new media clients like the Pinnacle Showcenter and Hauppauge MediaMVP but I keep going back to the Xbox....

[stevel]

It's more than just the processor - Windows assumes a common platform design including buses, BIOS and more. TiVo is a special=purpose design that does not look at all like what Windows would expect to see.

[Francesco]

Wasn't it developed on an IBM 403GCX "Oak" Evaluation Board, an embedded Linux PPC board?

[wmcbrine]

Originally posted by pokegol
WinNT was designed to run on x86, MIPS, PPC, and Alpha. Support for MIPS and PPC were dropped in Win2000.Actually it was dropped in one of the service packs -- that is to say, you can run Win NT 4.0 on MIPS and PPC, and upgrade it to a point, but you can't upgrade it as far as x86 or Alpha.

Of course, this isn't enough to get it to run on a Tivo. The rest of the hardware is still unsuitable... Linux is more flexible because it's open source, and has lower hardware requirements to begin with.

It might just be possible to port Windows CE to the Tivo. Not much point in doing so, though.

[ibex]

Perhaps you CAN'T run media center, I understand that.
But he is right that is basically a box (a network appliance)
The chip does run linux, right?
It seems reasoable to me that you could run a installation of linux on the box
that was non-propietary.
Then you should be able to get closer to the solution you seem to desire.
Perhaps a sourceforge project?

[wmcbrine]

Yes, you can run a more normal Linux distro on a Tivo. People have done it.

[baskerj]

Originally posted by stevel
A comment - at present, you cannot obtain Windows XP Media Center Edition without buying a box configured with it - Microsoft doesn't sell it separately.

Not entirely true...you can "obtain" it. You are correct, MS does not sell it separately yet, however, if you have an MSDN subscription its included in that. Oh yeah...and since this is the underground forum, there's always Limewire/KaaZa/eMule. ;)

You can build your own media center box...but not with Tivo hardware.

[wkozun]

Originally posted by rjcTivo04
Just as a thought. Would it be possible to convert a Phillips DSR7040 DirecTivo box into a Windows XP Media Center?


There actually is an application available that allows S1 TiVos to play MP3s, display JPEGs and even display shows from other TiVos. It is discussed at "the other forum" or you should be able to find out more by googling "tivo ohm"

[classicsat]

A X-box, for one thing, is next thing to an x-86 PC (it in fact uses an embedded win2K OS).

In theory, one could totally dump the Tivo application, and write another to make a media player.

[Francesco]

Notwithstanding the fact that an Xbox is a 766 MHz x86, while a TiVo is a 50 MHz PPC or 233 MHz MIPS...

[Merlinium]

Several things, though I didn't read everything in this thread, I do have a few things to add to what I did read.

First off WinXP-MCE requires specific hardware, found on the HCL (Hardware Compatibility List). I tested this out with several mostly high end systems and was unable to get it to load. Also there is a Upgrade that offers most of the features of the MCE to XP, though this is not truly a good thing, as the recent "patch" of 272MB's (Hell there are whole software programs that are not this large) has made some software non functional.

As for what TiVo does and other similar software to make your own PVR, I have found that the software versions are lacking in quality. I have a HTPC, current config is:
Intel P4 1.8ghz on a Intel D845GB2
512MB 266DDR
ATI AIW 8500DV (hooked to a HD Projector with a screen size of 107")
200GB Maxtor + 40GB Seagate
Sony DRU530 DVD Burner
Audigy2 (providing Optical inputs from Satellite Receiver, as well as Optical outputs to DTS receiver)

The problems I ran into were plenty.
Poor encoding from TV software (ATI's MC software seemed the best overall after I manipulated the codecs)
lack of support for features (ATI's software does not support Optical Audio either input or output, I have to manually go in and change the settings every time I use their software)
Beyond3 - Rather poor quality with the ATI Tuner.
MyTV - lack of features
FreeVo - ugly interface, limited media features
AV2000 - Great look, nice features, piss poor encoding.
and several others out there the similar results.

My system was meant to view DVD movies (200+), play an extensive MP3 library (55GB's worth), record TV shows for archiving and later viewing (mostly just Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis).

I recently purchased an XBox, and hooked to the Projector via HD and to the receiver via Optical Audio, I was impressed with the image and sound, so I decided to give a TIVO unit a try, I purchased a Series1 Tivo with no HD, which I was intending to just hack as a standalone digital recorder, after I get this thing running I will later add in Networking to add it to the rest of my network, which has a little over 1TB of storage combined.

Well my quest is still in progress for a End all solution for a Media center system.

[crow]

Why would anyone want to take an adequately versatile and highly-stable OS like TiVo-flavored Linux and replace it with Windows? I run both OSs on multiple machines and thats a bit like saying that you'd like to swap a Chevy for a Ford ;) ... If you want a media center PC then buy an mini ITX mobo case etc and bulid one, but let TiVo be TiVo.

[classicsat]

Originally posted by ibex
Perhaps you CAN'T run media center, I understand that.
But he is right that is basically a box (a network appliance)
The chip does run linux, right?

Kinda. A more accurate statement is that Linux has been "built" for the Tivo CPU and architecture.


It seems reasoable to me that you could run a installation of linux on the box
that was non-propietary.
Then you should be able to get closer to the solution you seem to desire.
Perhaps a sourceforge project?

The OS, yes, apparenty simple. However it would take a lot of work to be able to develop a media app that uses the Tivo arctitecture, especially without infringing upon Tivo's patents.

[Stainless Steele]

You can get now get XP MCE thur any MS system builder(MS OEM system builder program)
This begs the question why would you want to take a great thing like Tivo and put some sucky MS OS on it?

[crow]

^^^^ My point exactly ^^^^^

[beacon1]

quote:Originally posted by Cletus
I'll tell you how, but only if you help me convert my Accord into a lawnmower.


Piggers said:
I bet monster garage could do it. LOL!

Cletus, Piggers, they already did!!
They used a Mustang and cut a football field at 60 miles a hour!

Seriously though, I have heard some whispering at the shows.
Some higher end vendors have the software add-ons. If you can get to know some of them you may find what you need. I do not know how legal it would be so you'd be on your own.

I know you can do it with a Linux box but I haven't had the desire to look at digital pictures on my analog tv.
There are plenty of other options without doing it through a TiVo.
Cheaper too.

[Cletus]

So now I *have* to tell him. :D

[Mephistopheles]

If you own an xbox, you can allows mod it and use it as a multi-media center.

[Merlinium]

Originally posted by Mephistopheles
If you own an xbox, you can allows mod it and use it as a multi-media center.
Yeah a Media Center of a sort, the Xbox does not record Analog TV shows, there are no inputs for that sort of thing. Hence the reason I purchased a TiVo unit as well, so I basically now have 4 components for a Media Center. TiVo - for recording TV shows, Computer for Networked storage and viewing various style videos on a Digital Projector (DVI connected) and Analog 27" TV (though this is now hooked direct to the TiVo), DTS Receiver for excellent sound (Surround), Xbox for gaming (with future mods waiting to install Music services and alternate option for viewing video files)

This is much better then what I used to have in the entertainment center, removed Standalone DVD, VHS, MultiCD player, Dual tape deck, phonograph and Reel to Reel. Needless to say this was a wiring mess from hell.

[wakozun]

Actually you could put modded Xboxes in other rooms, connect them to your LAN and stream video off of your TiVo to these Xboxes. But I don't think we're supposed to talk about such things on this forum!

[Merlinium]

Originally posted by wakozun
Actually you could put modded Xboxes in other rooms, connect them to your LAN and stream video off of your TiVo to these Xboxes. But I don't think we're supposed to talk about such things on this forum!

Why? There are far cheaper things out there that can do this also.

[cojonesdetoro]

A modest, modded Xbox still costs ~$200 a pop. Although ,it is a nice solution for other reasons. it can be an Internet terminal, DVD player, DVD ripper, MP3 player, Linux box, Picture and video viewer/streamer... and oh , yeah.. it does video games too.

BTW, Why are people still posting in this thread? It started with such an absurb premise. ;^P

[james5901]

Instead of putting Windows onto an already perfectly fine Linux machine... is there anyway to replace the Tivo software with some sort of other Linux PVR software? In essence, keep the box, replace the software, and lose the subscription.

[cojonesdetoro]

I believe some people have gotten a plain vanilla Linux working on a Tivo S1 box. That's relatively easy because Linux is open-source. The problem is writing the software that can take advantage of the hardware. That part of the Tivo OS is closed source. It would probably be a huge untertaking and would invite litigation to any author who did not remain anonymous. All in all, it would be cheaper and easier to subcribe your Tivo or go with a "tivo basic" enabled Tivo.

[merdock777]

So in other words my Series 1 is utterly worthless trash now that I have no home phone line and don't want to pay for tivo service anymore (I have an seperate MCE Machine). there is nothing I can do with this hardware except rip out the crap HD and toss it in a crap pc? It doesn't have to be a DVR.

[classicsat]

Not unless you are an extremely experimental type.

[cojonesdetoro]

So in other words my Series 1 is utterly worthless trash now that I have no home phone line and don't want to pay for tivo service anymore (I have an seperate MCE Machine). there is nothing I can do with this hardware except rip out the crap HD and toss it in a crap pc? It doesn't have to be a DVR.

A series 1 will do manual recordings but with your attitude you're better off selling on Ebay or just toss it out a window. Doing anything useful with it will take some work and could lead to frustration.